Narrowboat Tacet

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Where O Ware

We have made a couple of visits to Ware whilst on this trip on the Lee and Stort rivers. The Lee runs through the centre of Ware which is in Hertfordshire, only about 20 miles north of London.

Ware is an old brewing town and reminders of this can be seen around the town.

﻿

Barley was brought in, and beer transported out of the town via the river.

Flats and apartments lining the river where once there were busy wharves reflect that heritage in their architecture.﻿

﻿

The bronze in the town centre commemorates the malting industry.

Bargemen born in Ware were given the "freedom of the River Thames" — avoiding the requirement of paying lock dues — as a result of their transport of fresh water and food into London during the great plague of 1666.

Hidden away between some shops in the main street is the Leaside Church

﻿

But the Parish Church is clearly to be seen at the end of the High Street.﻿

As well as being a brewing town, Ware was also a coaching stop on the way out of London to Cambridge and York. There were many coaching inns along the High Street, there is still evidence of a few of them, with their gated entrances into a courtyard leading down to the river behind.

Along the river frontage in what was once the back gardens of these old coaching inns are the 18th century gazebos, which are a unique feature of Ware.

3 comments:

It must be lovely to have a gazebo backing onto a river. I would want a boat; a rowing boat for company and a kayak just for me. And maybe a Canadian canoe for longer journeys and... (not that I'm greedy!)

The town centre statue looks very proud to be representing the workers of a brewing town!

Hi there - see you are on our home territory. We lived in Ware for many, many years. Brick Lock Cottage on the River Stort(up for sale) belongs to a close friend of ours.Glad you enjoyed the area.See you around

Sadly most of the Gazebos no longer are at the end of the gardens. A new road and new little mews type houses have been errected in the long gardens between the original houses that owned the gazebos and the gazebos themselves which are now independently owned.

About Us

We have taken a break out of our busy lives to fulfil our dream of living aboard a narrow boat, travelling round the inland waterways of Britain. We are Ian and Karen with our slightly mad dog Jumble. Our two children are both away at University so it seemed a good opportunity to have our 'gap year' now. Think we might stretch it to 2 years to make sure we cover all the waterways on the map!